He seemed more open to the process of talking to management about being traded than I was imagining in my head

Interesting perspective

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I guess Kenny's loyalty has been paying off in the eyes of the vets. He straight up said "So, I think I owe him for what he has done for me". How many times do you hear a player talk about the GM like that lol

The players don’t give one flying **** about your “need for a rebuild”

And they do need to play better. What Kronner is saying is that they haven’t played up to their capabilities and that’s true.

Players have absolutely nothing to do with planning a rebuild. It isn’t denial. It’s something that is completely irrelevant in a signed player’s view. No player wants to be in a rebuild.

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They're in denial about their ability to compete. They think they just need to play harder and they'll be a winning team, and that's not true. It's sad, because that means they blame themselves for not being good enough. You can't compete your way to elite level talent. I think they know that, deep down.

They're in denial about their ability to compete. They think they just need to play harder and they'll be a winning team, and that's not true. It's sad, because that means they blame themselves for not being good enough. You can't compete your way to elite level talent. I think they know that, deep down.

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Well define “winning team”. If they play harder I’m sure their record will improve. If he means “play harder and we can win a cup, then ya you’re right. If he’s saying “play harder and we can be above .500 then It’s debatable. It’s today’s NHL you can Ben 20-18-8 and technically be a “winning” team, even though you are really 20-26.

They're in denial about their ability to compete. They think they just need to play harder and they'll be a winning team, and that's not true. It's sad, because that means they blame themselves for not being good enough. You can't compete your way to elite level talent. I think they know that, deep down.

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You're putting words in his mouth though. He didn't say they could be a 'winning team'. He said he thought they could play better than they have and win a little more.

They're in denial about their ability to compete. They think they just need to play harder and they'll be a winning team, and that's not true. It's sad, because that means they blame themselves for not being good enough. You can't compete your way to elite level talent. I think they know that, deep down.

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Outside of liking to play with elite players, guys in the NHL don’t care about how you get them.

Also, it is not remotely something that the players on the roster need to care about to find elite players.

How on earth does all this crap get so twisted? Players don’t make it in the league if they don’t have supreme confidence in themselves. If they don’t hold themselves to a crazy high standard. And for them, going after a winning record or chasing a playoff spot is a big deal.

Oh most definitely. I just think Kronwall is strictly talking about on-ice play. He's not making any larger discussion about a rebuild and team composition because those have nothing to do with him.

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Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. And he is 100% talking about on-ice play because that is literally the only thing that he or any other player can control.

You can join a team based on management telling you, we will do this and this and support you with this... but once you are here, you have control over your actions as a player and that is it.

Just like the Wings losing in 2009 game 7 wasn’t on Ken Holland because he wasn’t on the ice to give up a couple to Maxine Talbot, the team composition is no one player’s responsibility. The only one who could be considered to have an impact on that was Datsyuk when he stuck them with a 7.5 cap hit they needed to dance around.

Red Wings is much better team this year than last. Last year was the worst since early 90s. They try and play very hard this year, but something hold them down. The main reason they have so many injury , because they play hard , they compete. Unlike last year if they play 2days in the rows they still play hard.